The father of essays
"the more standardized the type, the more compelling the sense of an idiosyncratic personla self"
WM Eisenstein
Books were massed produced. The material contained showed the world what it should be (what the author thought it should be). Mass copies meant a uniform idea of what something should be (not necessarily what it is). Montaigne fought against that uniformity. He wrote with open honesty of all the faults and traits of mankind, especially focusing on his own. The authors of the other books had deemed these human qualities to be of little to no literary value, and thus had not been discussed in their books. Montaigne believed in a personal self- a self that was not perfect and should not be falsely written about as. The personal self emerged through Montaigne because people could see themselves through him.
"If you belittle yourself, you are believed; if you praise yourself, you are disbelieved"-Montaigne
translation: if you are humble, people will be more willing to accept what you are saying. Do not try and force what you believe as a fact. Do not tote yourself as all-knowng. People will be less inclined to believe you. It is not the person who decides they are great but the people around him.
any different interpretations?
WM Eisenstein
Books were massed produced. The material contained showed the world what it should be (what the author thought it should be). Mass copies meant a uniform idea of what something should be (not necessarily what it is). Montaigne fought against that uniformity. He wrote with open honesty of all the faults and traits of mankind, especially focusing on his own. The authors of the other books had deemed these human qualities to be of little to no literary value, and thus had not been discussed in their books. Montaigne believed in a personal self- a self that was not perfect and should not be falsely written about as. The personal self emerged through Montaigne because people could see themselves through him.
"If you belittle yourself, you are believed; if you praise yourself, you are disbelieved"-Montaigne
translation: if you are humble, people will be more willing to accept what you are saying. Do not try and force what you believe as a fact. Do not tote yourself as all-knowng. People will be less inclined to believe you. It is not the person who decides they are great but the people around him.
any different interpretations?
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Stormy Knight on The father of essays: I agree with your interpretati
Jeremy Barrick on The father of essays: Ahh! individualism. Being the
Jeremy Barrick on The father of essays: Ahh! individualism. Being the
Ahh! individualism. Being the self. That leads to uniqueness and creativity.
I agree with your interpretation, Dani. Boastful or seemingly all-knowing writers are a turnoff for me as I'm sure they are and were for most when the transition from writing to print evolved. Forcing ideas upon another isn't aiding their individualism, it's pushing for some sort of standardized belief system. Presenting individual ideas in a humble manner allows people to agree or disagree, whichever they chose, which reinforces the individualism of the reader and the author. The masses who choose to agree then give the author legitimacy, and those who disagree are welcomed in this day and age to publish a follow-up correcting what the feel is erroneous.